Wreck-It Ralph Gets Tangled
by Karts of Sugar Rush
Summary: Rapunzel tells children in her kingdom the story of a misunderstood man named Ralph who wants to prove he's not what he appears to be. To do that, he tries to do a good deed but finding one is harder than it looks. At least he thought so until he stumbled upon a tower harboring a nine year old girl.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled or Wreck-It Ralph.

Wreck-It Ralph Gets Tangled

Chapter 1: Bad Guys

^Corona Castle^

"Princess, the children are here for the story reading." A guard peered into the castle library where Rapunzel was getting everything ready for one of her many special deeds. Children all over Corona were so entranced by Rapunzel's telling of her adventure with Flynn, Pascal, and Maximus that it gave her the idea to read stories to some of the kingdom's children.

Rapunzel stopped what she was doing and turned to the guard. "Thank you, send them in. I'll be ready in a second." The guard nodded and left the princess. _Okay, mental checklist. Story, check. Chair, check. Snacks, check._ She looked over at Pascal. _Loyal companion, check._ Everything was in order.

"The princess!" A voice cried out. Rapunzel turned around to see two dozen little children accompanied by two guards.

"Hi, princess!" "Your highness!" "I can't wait for you to read a story!" "Me too! What are we reading?"

The children's energy was infectious, Rapunzel found herself giggling at their excitement. "Thank you sirs, I'll take it from here. If we need anything, we'll let you know." She told the guards. Both guards nodded and closed the library doors as they left. Then Rapunzel looked to the children. "Hi, everybody, I'm sure you're excited to hear me tell a story." The children grinned and some even started to bounce with excitement. "So let's get into the story, hmm?" She teased playfully.

"Yeah, let's read the story!" "Come on, start it!"

"Alright," Rapunzel sat in the chair she usually used for story time and gestured to Pascal. "In case you're not familiar, this is my best friend, Pascal. He's a chameleon." To emphasize her introduction, Pascal crawled up onto her shoulder and turned purple to blend in with his master's dress. Once the children were impressed, Pascal reverted back to his normal green and hopped back onto the table beside Rapunzel's chair. Rapunzel picked up the book on her lap and opened it up. "Let's begin…"

* * *

_Once upon a time, there was a magical kingdom called Niceland. Not only did people inhabit it but also all sorts of creatures. There were people made of candy, animals that could walk and talk, and many other citizens. The kingdom was ruled by a king and a queen, two beloved leaders. What many didn't know was that there were those who wanted to take the kingdom for themselves. One day, a princess was born and the kingdom celebrated the wonderful addition to the royal family. However, one was not celebrating, in fact he hated the new princess and he hated the monarchy. They were in his way of power and he was determined to do something about it. When the princess was just a few days old, in the middle of the night, this mysterious man snuck into the castle and snatched the baby from her room without a trace. The kingdom was saddened by this sudden occurrence, most saddened were the king and queen. After weeks of searching, everybody decided it was time to give up and face the truth that their new princess would not be seen again. Everybody moved on and tried to get things back to the way they were. This lasted a few years before the king and queen were mysteriously murdered by poison. In response to this sudden change, the kingdom crowned the royals' closest advisor as the new king. His name was King Candy from then on. King Candy tried to cheer everyone up by creating the Sugar Rush racing circuit. This seemed to work as the kingdom went back to being cheerful and praised their new king for his actions. What the citizens didn't know was that King Candy had dark secrets that select few knew. King Candy wasn't worried, there was no one that could possibly expose his secrets let alone find out. How wrong he was because things started to unravel and it started with a misunderstood citizen named Ralph._

* * *

^Tapper's Tavern^

Ralph groaned. "I don't get it. Why do those guys see me as a bad guy? Sure I'm a bit clumsy but that doesn't make me a bad guy. I may wreck things on accident but I've never done it on purpose unless someone asked me to." The large man was at a table with others who have been outcast by the kingdom residents.

"Ralph, people just don't take time to get to know us. We're different, they feel too scared to connect with someone different." Clyde said. Clyde was an orange ghost with siblings that were also shunned by others.

"Yeah, they are so scared of Zombie that when they see Zombie, they run away." Zombie, who actually was a zombie, added. He didn't really eat brains and bones all that much but when he did, it was always from a dead body, never a live one.

Zangief, a hairy man in red shorts and boots, shrugged. "They stay away from Zangief just because of hairy pits and out of fear of being squeezed between Zangief's thighs."

Ralph sighed and sat up straighter. "Okay but that doesn't excuse the fact that they don't want anything to do with us. We're people of the place too so they should at least give us something like the time of day. I'm just glad Felix does otherwise I would go crazy."

Clyde nodded his head (er, body) at Ralph's statement. "Yes, family is a good thing to have Ralph. And don't worry, it's not just Felix that talks to you. We do too, family goes beyond those related by blood."

Ralph smiled a little smile. "Thanks, Clyde." The ghost as well as the others at the table nodded. "Well, I should get going. Felix said there's a party going on at his house tonight and I'm invited. Hopefully, that will help my image." He stood up and prepared to leave the tavern.

"Good luck!" Eggman grumbled. He didn't think a party invite would get Ralph's reputation patched up.

Ignoring that last hint of doubt, Ralph continued on. "Bye, guys! See you around!" He waved. As he went to the door, he passed by Tapper. "Thanks, Tapper!" He waved to the bartender.

"You're welcome, Ralph." Tapper responded.

Out into the open air, Ralph breathed in the smell of the forest. It was nicer than being in Niceland itself. Curious about Felix's party, Ralph wondered what it would be like this time as he walked down the path that would take him to the bridge that led to Niceland. Soon he reached the bridge and saw Surge Protector at his station. "Hey, Surge!" The wrecker waved to the guard.

Surge looked up from his clipboard and glared. "Ralph…" He muttered with distaste.

Used to Surge's dislike for him, Ralph lumbered forward across the bridge. It was getting to be later in the evening and that meant the children were heading inside for dinner and getting ready for bed. Sugar Rush was coming up again and the children were always riled up about it. Even though it was late evening, the pathways were still bustling with business and fun. Then Ralph came up to a fairly sizable house and music could be heard through the windows. "Guess Felix started up the party already." Ralph mused. Lightly, Ralph pounded his knuckle on the door.

^Inside Felix's house^

"Great party, Felix! This is one of your best ones." Deanna commented to a short man in blue workman's clothes.

Felix's cheeks blushed. "Thanks, Deanna, it was nice that everyone could come. I hope a few more people show up." Hopefully Ralph would arrive soon. A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. "Oh good, more guests." He brightened. "Gene, could you get that?" The handyman called to his friend.

"Sure, Felix!" Gene called back. The man was even shorter than Felix. He skipped over to the door and pulled it open to see Ralph in the doorway. "Aaaah!" Gene slammed the door shut. "It's Ralph! He's at the door!" Gene screeched at the other party guests. Some of the other guests became startled and started worrying.

Felix waved his arms in the air to try to get attention. "Calm down everyone, I'm sure Ralph is only here to join us in the fun."

Gene scoffed. "More like wreck the fun. Don't let him in, Felix."

"Hey, don't be rude to the guy." Sonic jumped in. "He lives in Niceland too. He has as much right to come to the party as we do."

Mary cringed in fear. "But, Sonic, he only wrecks everything. I haven't forgotten how he wrecked my cake at my thirteenth birthday party."

Q*Bert rolled his eyes in annoyance and made some noises, the only way he knew how to communicate. "_That was an accident years ago. Let it go already!"_

Mary gasped in shock. "Q*Bert!"

"I would rather let that stupid zombie, Zombie, eat my brain than share a party with Ralph." Gene retorted.

Felix crossed his arms. "Gene, if you don't shape up that attitude soon, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. It's not nice to exclude others like that." Gene rolled his eyes and huffed. At the door, Felix opened the door and stepped outside. "Sorry about that, Ralph. You know Gene."

"Yeah," Ralph sighed. "Maybe I should just leave. They clearly don't want me in there." He said.

Felix gasped for a moment. "What? No, no, Ralph that's not it. In fact, Q*Bert, Sonic, and I spoke up in your defense. People do want you at the party." Ralph looked away, feeling unwanted. "Look I invited you to this party and you came so you might as well come inside and have some cake."

Ralph sighed again. "Felix, I don't know."

"Come on, brother. Just stay long enough to have a piece of cake and then you can leave if you wish. If you back out now then you won't have a chance for people to try to get to know you." Felix reasoned.

Felix's brother mulled over it for a little bit. "Alright, fine, but just long enough to have one piece of cake." He said sternly.

Relieved that Ralph was going to at least try, Felix pushed open the door and stepped back inside. "Make room, everyone, Ralph's coming in." Instantly, several party guests scrambled away from the door to avoid being near Ralph.

"Hi, everybody," Ralph waved to the others. "Hey, Sonic! Hey, Q*Bert!" He addressed the two. Sonic and Q*Bert greeted him back.

"Hello, Ralph…" Gene hissed. "What are you doing here? This party is for invited guests only."

Ralph shrugged. "I was invited. One of the rare times I was invited too so I wasn't going to turn this down. Why are you here? Besides making others fear other citizens for ridiculous reasons." He glared at the small man.

Gene huffed. "You? Invited? That's a laugh, who in their right mind would invite a party wrecker like you?"

"I would." Felix answered. Gene gawked at him and several gasps were heard around the room. "What? He's my friend, you really expect me to treat him like that." He replied. There was awkward silence as everybody processed Felix's sentence.

Finally, Sonic had enough. Quietly he dashed into Felix's kitchen and returned with a cake in hand. "How about we have some of that cake, guys?" He asked the crowd. Felix nodded and Mary went to slice the cake up for everyone.

As slices were handed out, Gene decided to open his mouth again. "Don't give a piece to Ralph, he'll just end up smashing it. He doesn't deserve a slice anyway."

Felix gasped. "Gene! I thought I told you to mind your manners."

"Yeah, not cool dude!" Sonic added.

Q*Bert bleeped again. _"Quit picking on him, you jerk."_

"I'm just telling the truth." Gene stated. "Ralph destroys everything he touches. We're all better off not being near him so he doesn't end up killing us." The other party guests gasped in horror. Pac-Man, who had been gobbling up abandoned cake and drinks paused and beeped in shock.

That did it for Ralph. Now he was seeing red. Others noticed how mad Ralph was looking and took steps back.

"Gene…" Deanna squeaked in terror.

Felix too saw Ralph's rage. If something wasn't done about this soon he would blow. "Gene… I really think you should take that back."

"Nope, not taking it back. I'm right. He claims that all the wrecking he does is accidental but I say that's a lie. His wrecking is a hazard to everyone." Gene responded.

Ralph's breathing got heavier and angrier. "Jiminy jaminy…" Felix pulled down his cap and covered his ears.

The misunderstood guy roared. "What is your problem, Gene! What is your problem with me, huh? Why are you so intent on making sure no one tries to be my friend? I'm just like you all are. Sure I may be bigger and stronger but that's no excuse to make me seem like a criminal. If you would just give me a chance for once I could show you that I'm not a bad guy. I'm a good guy." He raged.

Gene didn't back down. "You're not a good guy. You're a bad guy who destroys every good thing someone else does. You're just like all those other freaks that hang out in the forest. Ghosts, zombies, giant fire-breathing reptiles, you, all of you are outsiders never meant to be part of this kingdom. Face it, you could never make a friend and you certainly could never do something good."

"Yes, I can." Ralph challenged.

"No you can't."

"YES, I can."

"NO, you can't."

"YES, I CAN!" Ralph instinctively raised a fist and slammed it into the floor, making Felix's floor crack. No one dared to utter a word after what they saw.

The short man that hated Ralph with all of his existence looked down at the crack on Felix's floor. "That proves my point. You're a raging monster and that's that."

Just then, Ralph noticed what he had done. He lifted his arm back up and pulled it back. "Just wait, Gene. I'll show you. I'll show everyone that I can be a good guy." Without a word, Ralph left the house.

After Ralph left, Gene turned his attention to the rest of the party. "Come on, let's get back to the party." The other party guests stared speechlessly at him.

"The only place you're getting back to is your house." Felix remarked. A rarity for Felix, a scowl was on his face and his arms were crossed. Sonic and Q*Bert appeared the same. Gene turned his attention to Felix and saw how he was. "I'm sorry Gene but I'm not going to tolerate that. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"You're kicking me out?" The short man asked incredulously. "You're kicking me out and you didn't bother to kick out Ralph for wrecking your floor." The handyman didn't respond and only scowled. "Alright, I'm leaving then." Fuming, Gene exited the party and went out into the streets. He saw Ralph just a few feet away and getting farther by the minute. "I hope you're happy! I just got kicked out of the party because of you!" He yelled. His yell went ignored as Ralph kept on going. "You wreck everything!" He yelled again. Ralph kept on going. Angry, Gene turned the other way and went towards one of the late-night bars to get a martini.

^Ralph's home^

As Ralph's anger vanished, he trudged down the forest path to his home. Nobody wanted him in town so he set up home in the forest. At long last, he reached a tree and climbed. "I'll prove Gene wrong. I'll prove them all wrong." He grunted under his breath. After climbing up some branches he reached his tree house. Maybe Tapper can help, he would see the bartender tomorrow. Ralph covered himself up with a blanket that Felix had given him. It wasn't much but it still helped. He dozed off into the bliss of sleep.

^Unknown Location^

She marked one more day on her calendar. A couple more days to go until Sugar Rush. This is so exciting! She yawned, it was getting to be past her bedtime (not like she followed it anyway). Deciding to call it a day, she hopped over to her bed and crawled under her blankets.

^Tapper's Tavern^

Ralph's brows lowered in concentration. "So, you're sure there isn't anything big I can do to get people to see I'm not as bad as I seem?" He asked Tapper.

Tapper filled up a mug with his famous root beer. "Sorry, Ralph but there isn't anything I can come up with." He slid the mug over to Ralph across the counter. "Here, you had a rough night last night so have one on the house." It was early in the morning and Tapper's had just opened for the day before Ralph arrived, wanting to talk with Tapper in private before customers came in.

"Thanks," Ralph quickly downed his mug. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to try to do little deeds at a time, it'll take too much time and no one would ever ask me for help."

"Wish I could help you Ralph but you know how busy this place usually is." Tapper gestured to his tavern.

Ralph sighed. "Well, thanks for the help you've already given." He rested his chin in his palm. "I just wish I knew what to do." Realizing he still had his mug, he gave it back to the bartender.

"Well, if I can help in any way then I can at least give you a little advice." Tapper spoke as he wiped out the used mug. "Try taking a walk in the forest. Whenever I'm in a slump with business, I usually take a walk to clear my head and come up with an idea to get business up again." He put the mug back in its place.

It seemed like a good idea to Ralph, a good walk always is useful. "I see, thanks for your help Tapper." Ralph slid off his stool and began to leave.

"Any time!" Tapper called after the wrecker.

Now with the intent of taking a peaceful walk, Ralph left the tavern and walked deeper into the forest. Meanwhile, Q*Bert was on his way to Tapper's when he saw Ralph leave and head into the forest. "_Ralph? What's he doing? I bet he's still mad about the party last night." _The orange creature wanted to follow but he felt it would be best to give Ralph his space and go do what he came to.

^The Forest^

Okay, how was he going to change his image, everyone always avoids him. This was going to be difficult. How could he prove he's a good guy if he can't get near anybody? Sometimes the citizens of the kingdom visit Tapper's so maybe if he got a job at the tavern and did it very well, perhaps that would help him. Not sure if Tapper would let him help, the bartender already does a good job by himself so he probably doesn't need an extra hand. He ducked under a low branch and stepped over a fallen log. Then there was Felix, he was always willing to help Ralph get a better reputation. Considering Felix was always out fixing things, he wasn't sure how well that would go over. Ralph followed the path as it curved around little hills and past large trees. There was Clyde and the gang, they might have ideas, except the citizens don't really like them either so their plans might not work. So that idea was out too and that left one option. The last option was to wait for an emergency to come up and help out with that but some might think his intentions were different and try to pin the blame on him. He did not want to end up in jail. "Grrr, why does having to prove I'm a good guy be so hard?" His anger at not being able to come up with an idea distracted him from watching his path. The anger was so distracting that Ralph's large feet tripped over a small boulder and Ralph fell to the ground, rolling as he went. "Ouch! Ow!" Ralph tumbled and tumbled until he rolled over the edge of a cliff. "Aaaaaaaah!" He screamed as he fell. "Ow! Oof! That hurts!" His fall was stalled as he landed in a tree branch full of leaves on the side of the cliff. He fell through the branch and continued to fall. "Aaaaah!" Finally, he fell onto a fluffy bush of leaves and flowers. Rolling off of the bush, he plopped onto the firm ground. "Ouch…"

^Niceland Castle^

King Candy slipped into the throne room where he met up with Sour Bill, his green gumball assistant. "Sour Bill, I'm heading out." The king told his assistant.

"Yes your majesty, right on schedule." Sour Bill replied. A nod of acceptance from the king, Sour Bill went to watch for any unexpected visitors as King Candy snuck behind the throne and accessed a secret passage. Sour Bill had gone with the king a few times but he usually stayed behind to keep any attention from being directed at the king.

^Niceland Bridge^

A hidden passage opened up and King Candy got out. Now all he had to do was get across the bridge and into the forest. To avoid detection by citizens or Surge, the king snuck under the bridge and used a boat that was kept under it. As he rowed to the other side of the waterway, Felix was up above. The handyman was pretty worried about his friend and the fact that he hadn't seen Ralph yet today was unnerving.

"He must be really upset." Felix mused. If it weren't for the fact that he had never gone into the forest on his own, he would have already gone in. "He has to be in there somewhere. He's probably sulking at Tapper's Tavern again just like he always does when he's bothered by something like what happened last night." Just then he noticed Q*Bert crossing the bridge. Perhaps he's seen Ralph today? "Q*Bert! Hey, friend, can I ask you a quick question if it's not too much trouble?"

Q*Bert bounced over to the handyman. _"Hello, Felix, did you see Ralph today? He looked pretty bummed over at Tapper's."_

Felix was taken aback. He was going to ask Q*Bert about Ralph but apparently he didn't need to. "You saw Ralph? At Tapper's?" The orange character nodded. "What was he doing there?"

_"I don't know. I just saw him leave. It looked like he was heading deeper into the forest."_ Q*Bert replied.

"Deeper? That doesn't sound good." He pulled off his cap and started to scratch his head, looking for an answer. "I hope he's not in any danger. How am I supposed to go after him? I would go but I don't want to go alone. Who knows what could happen in there?" He racked his brain for a solution.

As Felix thought so did Q*Bert. The orange friend knew about Felix's problem with going into the forest alone. Suddenly he heard a voice.

"What the heck do you think you're doing, Markowski? Back to your patrol!"

Searching for the source of the voice, Q*Bert whirled around and noticed a tall woman in black and red armor. It was Sergeant Calhoun. The woman was one of the top guards of the kingdom and was currently reprimanding one of her inferiors for slacking on his job. _"What about her? She could probably help you."_ He told Felix, pointing his trunk to Calhoun.

Following Q*Bert's direction, Felix saw who he was pointing at and quickly got flustered. "Her? No, no, no, no, I don't think so."

_"Come on, Felix, she's one of the strongest in the kingdom. She would be the best help you could get."_

"Well, what if she's very busy. She wouldn't want to do anything for me." Felix responded.

Q*Bert turned his casual look into a piercing stare. _"Are you sure that you're not just too chicken to ask her because of your crush on her?"_

Felix's face got even redder and his body got hotter. "What? That's ridiculous Q*Bert!" He was failing to mask his uncertainty. Q*Bert just had to pull out the crush bit on him, didn't he.

_"Then ask her for her help in finding Ralph. I'm sure she could find him in no time at all." _Q*Bert badgered.

"I'm not sure. She's sharp but I'm not sure how well she and Ralph would get along if we found him." Felix reasoned.

_"Just ask her and see what she says. She might say yes. Who knows, maybe then you could try to spark something with her. If she doesn't agree to help then we can find a Plan B." _Q*Bert continued. His eyes drifted to the sergeant. _"Here she comes, ask her now!"_

The sergeant was walking their way. "Excuse me, Sergeant?" Felix asked as she approached.

Calhoun walked over to them. "What do you want, civilian?" She asked with an intimidating tone.

"See, I'm worried about my friend, Ralph, and I was thinking I should go see if I could find him in the forest but I think I might need an extra hand so could you possibly come along and help me track him down?" Felix asked, his voice nearly cracking from intimidation.

"Why would you need me?" Calhoun pushed on.

Felix took off his cap in respect. "It's just that you're one of the best in the kingdom's guard and I thought if you helped me then the sooner Ralph would be found and the sooner he would be safe. He had an awfully hard night last night and I think he might not be back to his old self yet." He explained.

Calhoun looked from Felix to the forest. She had been in there a few times in her time as part of the guard. "You said Ralph, as in Wreck-It Ralph, correct?" She confirmed.

"Yes, ma'am!"

She took a few seconds to process the request before she gave her answer. "Alright, let's go." She decided.

Felix blinked as if he hadn't heard right. "Really?"

"Yeah, that big klutz might do something that might affect the rest of us and I'm not taking any chances. There can be strange things in a forest. Let's roll, Short Stack!" Calhoun commanded. Then she pulled out a communicator. "Kohut, this is the sergeant. I'm going on a search in the forest, you're in command until I get back. If something big comes up, page me." A response played back and she put away the communicator. "Come on, we should find him before night falls." She started crossing the bridge.

Felix grinned in acceptation. "You got it. Thanks for your talk, Q*Bert." He thanked his orange friend and jogged off to join Calhoun. Q*Bert beamed as he watched the two leave. His work was done here. Ralph would be found and Felix might come back with a romance.

^The Forest^

After Ralph had momentarily blacked out, he regained consciousness a few minutes later. "Ooh, that hurt a little." He noted the last few minutes. He sat up and got back on his feet. "Where am I?" He didn't remember ever visiting this part of the forest. Last he recalled, he had tripped over the edge of a cliff. He should probably find a way back up there. With a new goal in mind, he started walking, looking for a way to get back up to the rest of the forest. As he walked he observed the new surroundings. It still looked like part of the forest so he was still close to home. He was passing a rock face when he noticed something odd. Those vines on it didn't look right. Deciding to take a closer look he walked over to them and pulled them aside. Behind the vines was a dark tunnel. Where would that lead? Was that a cave? Investigating this new discovery, Ralph ventured inside. Walking in the dark for a few minutes, he started to see light which he presumed was coming from another side of the tunnel. Shortly, he reached the other end and walked out. Everything looked normal here. There were trees, flowers, a pool of water, and a tower. Wait, a tower? Ralph focused his attention on the tower. What was that doing out here in the forest? There was one thing to do. He advanced on to the tower.

* * *

"Break time!" Rapunzel declared, closing the book on a bookmark.

"Aww…." The children whined.

"But we want to hear what happens next." "Yeah, we want to know what Ralph finds in the tower." "Who was the person that couldn't wait until Sugar Rush?" "Come on, Princess, keep reading please!"

The children's interest in the story amused Rapunzel and Pascal. They shared a chuckle at the sight. "Sorry, kids but I promise the story will be continued after we have a snack."

"Okay…" the children sighed. Some of the children's little tummies rumbled.

"I guess I am hungry…" "Let's eat! The faster we eat the sooner we can hear what happens next." "I got dibs on the crackers and cheese!" "I need to potty!" "No fair, I want the cheese!"

Pascal snatched up some grapes before the snacks were bombarded by the majority of the children. A few patiently waited for the mess to clear up before getting a snack and a few other children left to use the restroom. In order to avoid being caught up in the mess, Pascal eat his grapes and retreated to Rapunzel's shoulder. He could only hope that the rest of the week wouldn't be so hectic.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Tower of Surprises

^Corona Castle^

The children at Rapunzel's story reading eat their snacks with gusto, eager to finish eating and get back to the story. Rapunzel herself took her time to eat her treat and willingly shared a little with Pascal since the chameleon was only able to get a few grapes before the children scared him off.

Once the children finished and cleaned up, Rapunzel helped them get arranged back in their seats and situated back in her chair with the storybook in her lap. "Alright, now that everyone has had a chance to eat and relieve themselves of whatever they needed to, let's continue on with our story." She opened the book and replaced the bookmark that was covering some of the story's words. "Ralph went up to the tower and began to climb it…"

* * *

Grunting, Ralph heaved himself up the side of the tower. Thanks to his strong hands and feet, he was able to easily scale the structure. As he climbed, he wondered what he would find up there. If it was abandoned then maybe he could make it his own place while he blew off his steam from the party. If the place belonged to someone else he would just leave and never come back unless the resident wanted him to come. Really, Ralph didn't know what to expect. In a few minutes he reached top and clambered inside.

The place was dark, making Ralph wonder if it was an abandoned place like he thought. He peered around the room and saw furniture that looked relatively clean. There appeared to be a kitchen area and in there was a bowl of fruit and a plate of deserts and pastries. Judging by the dark atmosphere, the place was just temporarily unattended and whoever lived here was just out for a while. Hungry since he didn't really have an actual breakfast this morning, Ralph helped himself to an apple from the fruit bowl and munched on it.

Above him, a set of hazel eyes were watching him. So she was right, her guardian hadn't arrived but a complete stranger. And he was eating their food! Meh, she wasn't really one for fruit anyway, she preferred candy and sweets. She only ate fruit and the like because her guardian insisted she keep her health up. Still, there was something about this newcomer that interested her. He seemed lost and he looked dirty too. Then she noticed how big his hands and feet were, they were ginormous. Never in her life had she seen those big of feet and hands before. Her guardian told her that if anybody that wasn't him came to their tower she shouldn't talk to them, that it wasn't safe to. A couple times he had tried to scare her into believing that the outside world was a dangerous place that she wasn't ready for but she found the idea of freaky being pretty cool. Perhaps she could mess around with this guy before sending him off before her guardian arrived.

"Hey, mister!"

Not expecting that, Ralph nearly choked on a bit of his apple. "What? Who was that? Who are you? Come out so I can see you."

"Peew, you stink! Do you ever take a bath or something?" She replied.

"Yes, I do bathe thank you for your concern." Ralph deadpanned. "Now just come out. I don't want to play games. In case you're worried that I might squash you with my big body parts I won't."

She giggled. "I'm not worried about you squashing me you big dope but I do find your big body parts funny. Why are your hands and feet so freakishly large?"

Ralph rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you why when you tell me why you're so obnoxious. Now for the last time come out from wherever you are or I might have to search this place top to bottom."

Clearly her game was over. "You're no fun but fine." She retorted. Jumping down from the beam and onto the couch in the middle of the room, she bounced onto the floor. "My name's Vanellope, what's yours big guy?"

Ralph took a moment to take in his new acquaintance's appearance. Vanellope was a little girl. Her hair was black, her eyes were a greenish-hazel color, she had an overbite and a little nose. She also was wearing a vanilla white suit with teal and gold stripes on the sides. "My name's Ralph." He said.

"Nice to meet you, Ralph! You're the first visitor to come here that wasn't my guardian." Vanellope commented.

"So I was right, someone does live here." Ralph said, tossing away his apple core. "And that someone is you and your guardian?"

Vanellope shrugged. "No, it's really just me. My guardian used to be here at night when I was little but now I have the run of the place on my own. He comes around every few days to check up on me, he's pretty busy."

"Wait so you live here on your own? But you're just a kid." Ralph exclaimed.

"Yeah but my guardian taught me how to live on my own. He trusts me enough to." She responded.

Looking around the tower, Ralph was surprised by how tidy the place was. He also happened to notice something that caught his eye. "I see you like racing." His comment was directed at the Sugar Rush banners from past years. Newspaper clippings were also pinned up on a board on a wall. Heck even Vanellope was wearing a racing suit now that he realized it.

Vanellope shrugged again. "What can I say I like the action. And this room doesn't even cover half of my collection. Follow me!" Eagerly, Vanellope zipped up the stairs.

Following the little girl, Ralph went up the stairs into a hallway that held two bedrooms. The empty one he had to guess was Vanellope's guardian's. He reached Vanellope's room and stepped inside. "Woah…" He breathed.

Vanellope's room was highly decorated. In Vanellope's room was a round, yellow bed under a peanut brittle themed canopy. The bed had green and red blankets laid on it. The walls were lined with drawings of what Ralph learned was Vanellope driving a kart and others had a picture of her winning a trophy. There were shelves filled with books which appeared to be on the topics of candy and racing. On her desk was a notebook of some kind, a few books were scattered around the tabletop, and a bowl full of gumdrops and jelly beans sat on the desk. "What do you think? Cozy, huh?" Vanellope asked. "My guardian brings stuff with him for me to have to entertain myself when I'm not doing chores." She jumped on her bed and bounced for a little bit.

Ralph observed everything and took in everything. "You sure do have a lot of time on your hands to have all of this." He noted.

Vanellope stopped bouncing and sat on her bed. "Well, I don't ever go anywhere so I do a lot of drawing and reading. One day when I'm bigger, I'm heading out into the world and I'm going to be a racer." Her tone drifted into one of dreamy awe.

Her words were lost on Ralph as he focused on one part of her sentence. "You never leave?"

"Nope," Vanellope confirmed. "My guardian says the world's a really dangerous place and that I shouldn't go out until I'm old enough and ready." The slightest bored, Vanellope picked up a book and scanned through a few pages.

This was getting more confusing for Ralph by the minute. "Really? The world can be dangerous but I don't think it's as dangerous as your guardian is claiming." He really needed to meet this guardian and ask him about his methods for raising Vanellope.

Vanellope perked up at Ralph's statement. "It isn't? Weird…" She frowned in confusion.

"Vanellope! I'm here, pull me up please!"

"That's my guardian!" Vanellope snapped. She got to her feet and pulled Ralph into the room further. "Stay in here, my guardian will flip if he sees you. He doesn't want anybody but me and him in the tower." She hurried out of the room and towards the tower's entrance. "I'm on it!" Then she pulled on a pulley system to help her guardian to get up to the window. Ralph remained silent and listened to the conversation.

King Candy finally reached the window. "Hello, my darling. How's your day?"

"Fun-filled like usual. I already took care of dusting and washing the dishes." Vanellope replied. "What's up?"

"It's been a few days so I thought I would come and check up on you like I usually do. You know how I can't l get away from my business that easily." King Candy answered.

From Vanellope's room, Ralph could hear every word. He knew that voice, he had heard it before but he couldn't exactly place it.

"I also came to tell you that Sugar Rush is coming up again and that you'll be on your own a little more like every year at this time." The king continued.

"Yep, I know. I've got it marked on my calendar."

Her calendar? Ralph gazed around the room before his eyes found the calendar and noticed that it was indeed marked as a countdown to the racing circuit.

"Excellent! I suppose you will want me to bring back souvenirs like every year?"

Vanellope's face deflated. "Really? Because I was hoping I could go see it this year, you know how I really want to. It would beat listening to the radio. I know all the racers and I know the track layout."

King Candy sighed. "I know. But, I'm sorry Vanellope but I just can't allow you to go out there. I'm very busy and I don't have time to look after you during that. Here, I brought you some more food. Last you told me, you were running low." He held out a basket full of fruits and vegetables including some bread and meat.

Depressed, Vanellope took the basket and placed it on the table to pay attention to later. "But, Guardian, I was really hoping that I could see it this year. I'm old enough now, I know it. I'm tough, I can handle anything that I come across out there." She countered.

Something boiled inside Ralph. He didn't like how her guardian was being so stubborn in not letting her go out.

"The answer is no, Vanellope and that's it. End of discussion on that topic." He declared. When he noticed that Vanellope was depressed he gave her a pat on the head. "Don't worry, some day you'll get out there just not today. Look, I'll bring you some really special souvenirs this time alright?" Sadly, Vanellope nodded. "Turbo-tastic, I'll see you the day after Sugar Rush." He gave her a squeeze. "Do your chores and make sure to eat the food before it spoils. Bye, Vanny!" King Candy got back on the pulley system and Vanellope regretfully helped him descend. She watched from the window as he disappeared through the tunnel.

"So much for seeing the races this year… he's gone Ralph, you're all clear!"

"You okay?" He asked as he saw her dejected expression.

"Yeah I'm fine." She sniffled and wiped her nose. "This happens every year. I ask him if I can go and he says no and then we argue and he wins." She explained.

"Sorry about that…"

"It's fine, really."

Looking out the window, Ralph saw treetops. He realized he had been out in the forest for quite a long time, Felix might be looking for him by now. "I should get going. There's stuff I have to do." Ralph told Vanellope, moving to the window.

"What kind of stuff?" Vanelope questioned.

"I'm just trying to prove to everyone in the kingdom that I'm a good guy and not a bad one. It's not really anything you would understand."

"Why are you doing that?"

"I'm sick of people judging me for who I appear to be. They don't try to get to know me. They don't want me there. I think if I do something good then maybe that will change things."

As Vanellope listened, she quietly had an idea. It was crazy but it wasn't impossible and it seemed like it would work. "That's it!"

"What?" Ralph stopped leaving to wonder what she was talking about.

Quickly, Vanellope dashed around him and slammed the sides of the window shut and stared up at him with a look of glee in her eyes. "I have an idea!" She climbed up on his shoulder to make sure he would hear her. "If my guardian won't take me to the races then maybe you can."

"Me?"

"Yeah, think about it. You want to prove to everyone that you're not such a big, mean grump right? Then take me to the kingdom to see the races. Once they see you helping me accomplish my dream then maybe they'll think better of you."

"Vanellope, that's a crazy idea." Ralph said doubtfully.

Vanellope scrambled down to the floor. "So, but it's a great idea. My guardian will be too busy to come check on me. That allows enough time to go see the races, have a little fun, and get back before he notices I'm gone. I would see the races and you would be doing something nice and good. It's perfect!" She explained. "If you want, I can vouch for you that you're actually nice. After all, we know each other a little bit now and we can learn more about each other on the way there and back. Ralph, it can work!" She exclaimed.

Ralph paused to let the whole idea sink in. "I'm not sure, kid."

"Oh, come on, you big baby. It won't even be that hard. If you don't do this then you'll have to find something else to do and you make it seem like you're having a hard time finding something to do too." Vanellope pointed out.

For a little, partially annoying shrimp, she was right. Earlier he was having trouble figuring out a good deed he could do and now there was one right here. It was simple too, just take her to the races and return her home. This was probably his only chance at the moment.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it. I'll take you to see Sugar Rush."

Suddenly, Vanellope cheered. "Yes! Finally, I'm going to see the races. I'll be right back." The little girl ran upstairs. Ralph waited in the main center patiently, wondering what Vanellope was doing. A few minutes later, she came back but she was different. Her vanilla racing costume was replaced with a teal hoodie with red strings, a brown skirt, black boots, mismatching stockings, a piece of red licorice holding her hair up in a ponytail and pieces of candy were scattered in her hair. "What do you think?" She asked him, striking a pose.

"I don't know how to respond to that."

Then she tugged at her hoodie to straighten it out. "This is my outfit I chose to wear if Guardian said I could go see the races. He's never seen me looking like this so he might not recognize me when we're in the kingdom."

"Well, then it looks good. You look like an average citizen of the kingdom." Ralph commented.

"Perfect!" Before Ralph could object, she scrambled back up onto his shoulder. "Okay, Freaky Feet, get us out of here." She commanded jokingly.

Ralph chuckled a little. "You got it, Princess."

"Don't call me that, I'm not a princess." She retorted.

Outside the two went, Ralph descended the tower and headed for the tunnel that would take them back into the forest. Vanellope rode Ralph's shoulder all the way through to the other end before she jumped down and touched her feet to ground for the first time in her life.

"Woah… this is awesome!" As an excited child, Vanellope tore off, exploring every little detail. Talking a mile a minute, she observed her new surroundings. "Look at these trees, I bet I could climb them easily, they're just like the beams in the tower. Flowers have weird colors. Hello, animals! Would you squirrels stop wrestling? I'm trying to say hello!"

"Vanellope, they aren't wrestling, they're- wait probably shouldn't tell you that." Ralph called over to her as she tried to peek into a hole in a tree.

For a few more minutes, Ralph watched as Vanellope took in her new world and then decided they should get going. "Vanellope, come on, the kingdom's this way." Ralph said, walking down a path.

Vanellope forgot that they were supposed to be getting to the races but she remembered now. "Oh, right! Let's go!" She ran after him.

^Ralph's tree house^

"We're almost there, just a few more branches and there we go." Felix said as he and Calhoun reached the house in the tree. "Ralph, are you home?" He asked as they emerged. "Guess he's not hiding from anybody." He mused.

While Felix thought to himself, Calhoun investigated the home. The place was definitely empty, the only other things there were a few fruits Ralph had picked and a makeshift bed with a blanket. "Looks like he made sure to clean up before he left. Got any idea where else he could have gone?"

Felix paused in thought. "Well, he does like to go to Tapper's Tavern often. It's the only real hangout in the forest." He concluded.

"Alright, then that's where we should look next. Let's get out of here, this place smells like bricks." Calhoun decided. The duo proceeded to descend the tree.

^The Forest^

"Thank the landscape there was a way back up here." Ralph breathed as he and Vanellope walked on a trail that was in the upper part of the forest. "Now I have an idea of where we are." He said.

"Good, I would have hated it if my first real friend besides my guardian got us lost in the forest and made us miss Sugar Rush." Vanellope deadpanned.

Not sure whether that was a threat or a joke, Ralph shrugged it off and planned out their next step. It involved taking a shortcut that was at Tapper's. Now they just had to get to the tavern otherwise they would have to take the long way and he did not want to run into Felix and he did not explain to him about Vanellope's idea.

Vanellope noticed her friend was strangely quiet and was wondering what to do about it but something ahead caught her attention. "Hey, Ralphie, what's that?" She pointed ahead to Tapper's Tavern.

Shaken from his thoughts, Ralph now realized they were so close to where they needed to be. "That's Tapper's, it's a restaurant/bar thing that I go to a lot. It also happens to be where we can go to get to Niceland a lot quicker. Follow me," They walked up to the door and Ralph paused to give Vanellope a little advice. "Now, you're new to interacting with people so I'll give you a fair warning that some of the guys in this place are a little hot-tempered and crazy so don't do anything that might set them off, just let me do the talking." Vanellope nodded in understanding and Ralph pushed the door open. "Hey, Tapper!"

"Ralph!" Tapper greeted. "You're back, did that walk help?"

"You could say that."

"Great, so you have an idea that might help you."

"Yeah, you see I was out on my walk and then-."

"Wow! Look at this place, it's cooler than mine." Vanellope commented out loud as she glanced around the bar. She noticed some of the customers, including Ralph's friends that he talked to the other day. "Look at these guys, they're all so weird and different. The one green guy looks sick and that other green guy looks like a giant monster."

Tapper looked from Ralph, who looked sheepish, to Vanellope, who was wandering around the bar and touching the decorations. "Who's the kid?" He asked.

Ralph awkwardly twiddled his large thumbs. "She's a friend I made out in the forest. She hasn't gotten out much." Then he sat down on a stool and turned serious. "Listen, she hasn't seen Sugar Rush before and I don't want to run into Felix and have to explain her to him so I was wondering if I could use that shortcut that could speed up the travel to the kingdom."

"Sure, Ralph, we're friends. Besides it would be more help than just giving advice." Tapper replied.

"Nice, thanks a lot." He stood up and looked around for Vanellope. "Kid, we better get going."

"I hear you, big guy!" Vanellope's voice replied though she was nowhere in sight. Then she popped up from behind a table. "Okay, chump let's hit the road."

"Hold on!" The two looked over to Ralph and his friends' usual table where his friends were gathered. "She's with you?" Clyde asked quizzically.

"Uh, yeah…" Ralph answered.

Clyde looked at Ralph strangely, "You're babysitting?"

Not expecting that, Ralph got a little embarrassed. "What? No, no I'm just helping her out."

Vanellope planted her fists on her hips. "Yeah, I'm not a baby, Blobby."

"Vanellope!"

Eggman huffed. "She sure has a tongue on her. Does she even know any manners?" He asked rhetorically.

Taking the question literally, Vanellope responded. "I know how to say please and thank you, and I know table manners, does that count?"

Bowser grumbled something and Clyde nodded. "Yes, she does seem sassy." He translated for the spiked reptile.

"Blobby speaks gibberish? Nice!" Vanellope mused.

Suddenly Zangief burst with laughter. "I am liking little girl. She has strong spirit."

In response, Vanellope did a mock curt. "Thank you, the name's Vanellope by the way." She hopped up on the table and playfully slugged the men in their sides. "You guys are cool."

"Hey, I just cleaned off that table!" Tapper cried as Vanellope walked all over the tabletop.

"You can clean it off again when I'm done."

Clyde eyed the young girl. "Now that you consider me cool, will you please stop calling me 'Blobby'?"

Vanellope sighed. "If you want me to…" She really thought 'Blobby' suited him.

"Vanellope, come on, we've got to go." Ralph called over to her.

"Alright!" She called back. Then she turned to her new friends. "Got to go, Ralph's taking me to see Sugar Rush. I've always wanted to see it and I thought it would help Ralph look nicer." She told the group.

The others looked at Ralph, questioning his mission.

"Ralph, that's a great idea." "A little girl is perfect for looking nice." "Zombie wants to help little girl to see races too."

The compliments made Ralph feel embarrassed but also proud. Then his moment of happiness was interrupted by a knocking at the door. "Tapper, can we come in? It's Felix and Sergeant Calhoun, is Ralph here? We just wanted to see if he was alright." Felix explained through the door.

"Felix!" Ralph whispered in surprise.

Tapper motioned to Ralph and Vanellope. "The shortcut, hurry!" Ralph and Vanellope zipped behind the bar counter and Tapper moved aside a set of barrels on the floor.

Using his strength, Ralph wedged his fingers in the slits between the floor boards and pulled it up a set of boards that revealed an underground tunnel. Vanellope went down first and Ralph was about to follow when the door burst open.

Calhoun stood there and scowled. "No response means I get to knock down the door. Where's Wreck-It?" For a moment, Ralph was paralyzed in fear and that moment allowed Calhoun to see him. "Wreck-It!" Upon hearing his nickname, Ralph got out of his stupor and followed Vanellope into the tunnel.

"What's going on?" Vanellope asked when she noticed how freaked out Ralph was.

Instead of answering, Ralph snatched Vanellope up and set her on his shoulder before taking off down the tunnel. "No time to explain, we've got to go now!" He said as he hurried down the tunnel.

Meanwhile, Calhoun immediately went for the trap door. Fearing that it had something to do with their friends, Clyde and the others dove in her way to stall her enough to allow their friends to get away. "Out of my way, you idiots, you're only adding to the problem." While she pried the secret entrance open, Felix kindly apologized for her brash actions to the others. Finally she got it open and she and Felix went down to pursue Ralph.

* * *

"And that's the end of today's reading." Rapunzel declared as she closed the book on its place.

"Aww…" The children moaned simultaneously.

"But what happens to Ralph and Vanellope?" One of the four girls with brown, braided hair asked.

"Felix and the sergeant can't catch them. Ralph and Vanellope are too fast. If they get caught then Vanellope won't get to see Sugar Rush." Another of the girls exclaimed.

Rapunzel, as well as Pascal, raised their arms to hush the children. "Don't worry, we'll find out the answers tomorrow. I promise." Rapunzel answered.

The children sighed. "Okay…" Reluctantly, they all got up and were escorted home by the guards.

_Note: Just in case you missed it, there's a reference to iCarly in this chapter. Congrats if you know the reference. Also, my profile is updated with bios I made for the Sugar Rush recolors. They don't appear to have their own like the other racers so I made some for them. The bios hint to how they act in my Despicable Wreck series. Enjoy!_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled or Wreck-It Ralph.

Chapter 3: Core Four

^Corona Castle^

The next day, the children returned to the castle library and could barely contain their excitement.

Rapunzel greeted them happily. "Welcome back, kids, who's ready for more of the story?" She teased. Her question was met with some excited chatter from the kids and she hushed them down so they could start today's section. "Felix and Sergeant Calhoun followed the trail…"

* * *

The duo ran down the tunnel, hoping to catch up to Ralph.

"You're a quick little man aren't you?" Calhoun remarked, surprised that Felix could keep up with her.

Even with the seriousness of the mission, Felix couldn't help but blush at the comment. "Yes, well, I can be quick when I want."

Noticing the short man's red face, she rolled her eyes and slapped his cheek. "Focus, Fix-It, we've got a runner to catch." They pushed on, knowing that Ralph had to be not far ahead.

^With Ralph and Vanellope^

"I don't see anybody following us. Are you sure they're after us?" Vanellope asked as she looked back.

"It's not you they're after, it's me and I'm sure they're following us."

Vanellope huffed. "Well isn't that a sweet treat. If they catch up to us, they might take you away and leave me without a companion to take me to Sugar Rush."

As he ignored the comment, not wanting to think about it, light seemed to be coming from ahead. "Kid, I think the exit's coming up!" They reached the end of the tunnel and Ralph worked on opening the exit. Apparently the exit hadn't been used in a while because it appeared to be stuck.

"Wreck-It!" Calhoun's voice echoed.

"We just want to talk!" Felix's voice added.

Vanellope faced the direction the voices were coming from and shouted back. "He doesn't want to talk to you, Dodo Brains!"

Just as Calhoun and Felix came into view, Ralph busted the exit open and the two friends burst out. Outside, Ralph grabbed the nearest log and set it in front of the exit to prevent it from opening. "Let's go!" They were at the river bed by the bridge and if they were going to lose the chasers then they had to go into the forest. Ralph's log block didn't hold out for long because Calhoun was able to use enough force to break it. The glare Calhoun was giving Ralph made him feel uneasy.

As she glared at him, she spoke in the calmest voice she could while she was fed up and tired. "Wreck-It, as the top of the kingdom guard, I order you to freeze." Felix stood by her, concerned both by his friend's well-being and the notification of the little girl that was accompanying him.

Ralph gulped, no one ever had the guts to cross Calhoun and her glares could make anybody shrink in fright. Since Vanellope never saw another person in her life before today, she had no idea what Calhoun was capable of. She wasn't about to let her guide be stopped here. "Split up!" Before Ralph knew it, Vanellope hopped off his shoulder and zipped off into the trees. Shaken from the glare, Ralph snapped back to reality and went off in a different direction.

"I've got Ralph, you get the young lady." Felix declared without a second thought. Before Calhoun could object, Felix darted off after Ralph and Calhoun reluctantly went after Vanellope.

Being the smaller and quicker one, Felix was able to catch up to Ralph. "Ralph, hold on, I just want to talk. I just want to know if you're okay from last night." He yelled after him.

Ralph weaved in between trees as best as he could. "I'd rather not. My life isn't an open book to you, Felix. I appreciate the concern but there are some things best left for me to know and you not to know."

Seeing as it was pointless to try and coax his friend's feelings out, Felix decided to change the topic. "What about the little girl? What are you doing with her? You didn't kidnap her while you were upset did you?" He really hoped that wasn't the case because that would mean legal trouble for Ralph.

"Of course not!" Ralph retorted. "I just found her this morning and we made a deal that if I took her to see Sugar Rush then she would help me get a better reputation around here!" He explained.

"What kind of kid is all alone I'm sure she had someone watching her." Felix countered. When he was close enough to Ralph he jumped and tackled his friend down.

Ralph fell with a thud and he didn't like it. He really didn't want to be having this conversation but it was no use, Felix was there and he already told too much. "No, she didn't. She was all alone and she just wanted to see the races so we made that deal." He admitted. "Now get off of me."

Felix relented and rolled off of Ralph's back. "Glad to know you're okay."

"Yeah, I went for a walk this morning to unwind and that's when I found her."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud screech. "No fair, you know this place better than I do! Put me down, you big nut log!" Calhoun emerged with Vanellope locked in her grip. "Ralph! You got caught too?"

"Oh no, ma'am we weren't trying to catch you, we just wanted to make sure Ralph didn't get into any trouble." Felix corrected.

Calhoun scoffed. "With this little terror I would say he did get into trouble."

"Hilarious, Crazy Pants…" Vanellope deadpanned. "Now for the love of popsicle sticks put me down!"

The moment Calhoun let her go, Vanellope blew a raspberry and went to stand over by Ralph. "Just who are you, Fun Size? I've never seen you around here and you look like you're not from around here." Calhoun commented as she looked Vanellope up and down.

"The name's Vanellope, and yeah I'm not from around here, this is my first time coming here."

Felix joined in. "Nice to meet you Miss Vanellope." Then he frowned. "Ralph said he found you all by yourself. Don't you have someone looking after you?"

Vanellope shrugged. "Yeah but my guardian is always so busy. Basically I'm living on my own. He said I couldn't see the races but I really wanted to and when Ralph came around I got the idea that he could bring me instead. My guardian's probably too busy to notice that I left my tower." She explained.

"That's why we tried to outrun you two." Ralph added. "I thought Calhoun was going to arrest me or something and it just seemed too awkward to explain this one to you." He said, pointing at Vanellope.

"Hmm, guess that answers that. If you three need me, I'm going back to my patrol." Calhoun responded, walking off.

Vanellope called after her. "Wait! Are you going to come with us to see Sugar Rush?" She asked.

"Why would I want to do that?"

Felix smiled at her. "Because it would be a great way to thank you for helping me track down Ralph. My treat!" He offered.

Calhoun stared at him, processing his offer. It was silent for a few moments before she gave her answer. "Thanks but no thanks, the races aren't my thing." She turned to walk away.

"But you're such a dynamite gal, you deserve a special treat like that!" Felix replied. When he said 'dynamite gal' she froze.

She whirled around and gazed at him. "What did you call me?"

"A dynamite gal?"

Calhoun's face turned into a face of rage and she roared. This caused Felix to wish he retracted the statement. "Don't ever call me that, in fact don't talk to me again." She snapped at him. Without another word, she left, leaving the others speechless.

When Felix was able to speak again, he couldn't find the right words to respond to that. "Wha- what did I say? It was a compliment not an insult."

"She really is a crazy pants." Vanellope said. "What's her deal? She was cool for a second and then the next she's all mad and stuff."

"It must be because of the cy-bug attack." Ralph decided.

Felix looked at Ralph. "What? Oh right, the cy-bug attack!"

Vanellope looked at the two men. "Cy-bug attack?"

Felix gazed at Vanellope. "Yes, the cy-bug attack! It happened years ago. That was the day Sergeant Calhoun was supposed to get married. When the ceremony was taking place, these menacing, huge bugs attacked the kingdom. They ate away at the buildings and eat our resources. They even killed some citizens. Of the unfortunate few, Sergeant's fiancé was one of them. The bugs were destroyed though. After that, she swore to never let another citizen be harmed and lose a loved one like that. She became the stone cold sergeant that we know now." He remembered.

"Ouch, I can understand why she takes things seriously now. Maybe she got mad at you because that was what her guy called her."

"Vanellope might be right, Felix. Maybe she just got reminded that she didn't have him anymore and took out her anger on you." Ralph reasoned.

Felix sighed. "I guess you both are right." He glanced at the sun. "Gosh, is it that late already? I better get going. I promised Don that I would fix his cupboards tonight. Glad to see you're doing okay Ralph and it was nice meeting you too Vanellope. I'll see you both later."

Ralph waved him off. "See you later, Felix." Then he turned to Vanellope. "You know, Sugar Rush isn't until tomorrow so why don't we crash at my place instead of here?" He suggested.

"That sounds awesome! I bet it's better than my tower." Vanellope said.

"Let's go then, my place is this way." An hour later, the two were up in Ralph's tree house.

Vanellope observed the tree house. "Hmm, not much to it but it rocks anyway."

Ralph smiled, he never really brought anyone beside Felix up to his tree house so it was nice to get the compliments. "Nice to know you like it. One of the best parts about it is the view of the kingdom. Look!" He showed her a window of his home.

"Woah! You can see everything from here. You can see everything but the Sugar Rush track." Vanellope observed. She looked up at the stars in the sky. "The stars are awesome to look at from here too." Right now, she was having a hard time believing that this would be her first night sleeping outside of the tower. The next day, she would see Sugar Rush in person. Sugar Rush… "Ralph? What if Sugar Rush isn't like I think it is. Everything I know would be a lie. What if it doesn't make me happy like I thought it would?"

Ralph could tell she was freaking out over her first chance to see what she had wanted so long and he wasn't going to let her turn back now, she was young and needed to explore. This experience was what she needed. "That depends on how you look at it. I know you're worried that it's not what you think it is but how will you know if you don't try. Vanellope, you are the toughest kid I ever met. Nobody would ever try anything under the glares from Calhoun but you acted like you didn't see anything particular. Around here, kids usually run away from me because they think I might squash them and don't take a chance to see if I actually do." He admitted. "You're the first kid I ever got spend time with. Believe me, I was a bit worried when you asked me to do this for you but now I'm glad I did and I hope tomorrow you'll feel the same way when you watch those races." He looked at her to gauge her reaction.

Strangely, those words were the first to ever touch Vanellope's heart. Her guardian's words never touched her like those did. Just like Vanellope claimed earlier, they would get to know each other more. Earlier, Ralph learned more about her and now she learned more about him. It was really sad for him, nobody but Felix ever gave him a chance to show who he really was and it wasn't until today that he found someone that chose to get to know him and that someone was her. Knowing that someone actually liked him gave him comfort that he wasn't a monster and knowing that she really was ready for the outside world gave her comfort. After hearing Ralph's confession, she knew that she had to return the favor. That was why she tackled him with a hug. "Thanks Ralph, that helped a lot. I hope I helped you too. I'm sorry that no one ever gets to know you, thanks to living in the tower I hardly get to know anyone. I don't even know my guardian all that well." She admitted.

"Well, maybe after Sugar Rush dies down, you can make an attempt to know him better even if you don't spend all that much time together." Ralph suggested.

Vanellope smiled. "That would be sweet." On impulse she yawned. "I guess I better get some shut eye if I want to see Sugar Rush tomorrow." She climbed onto Ralph's bed.

Ralph nodded. "Yeah, we both should. Good night!" He let Vanellope have one half and he stayed on the other half for fear of crushing her in his sleep.

^Calhoun's quarters^

Calhoun struggled to get to sleep that night. She couldn't help but feel like she had guilt. She had guilt over something she did today. Thinking back on the day's events, she didn't think anything was wrong except for snapping at the short handyman she had teamed up with today. He was only offering to pay her back for helping him and she had come down on him like thousands of bricks just for calling her what Brad used to. He couldn't have known that was Brad's old nickname for her. It was merely a coincidence. Yet, she didn't think of that when she had rejected his offer so harshly. She had acted without thinking and that was a rare event for her. There was only one way she could get rid of that guilt and that was to apologize to him. Tomorrow, she would track him down while on his job and confront him. With that plan in mind, she could finally allow herself sleep.

^Felix's house^

For the most part, Felix could sleep but there was one thing that continued to bug him. His last talk with Calhoun, she had shot him down so badly that he would honor her wish of him not talking to her again. Though, he couldn't help but concern himself over the whole 'dynamite gal' thing. If it had something to do with her fiancé then he knew that she hadn't gotten over him even after all these years. Who could blame her? That man held a place in her heart that he wouldn't dare try to replace. If there was a way he could gain her attention without replacing the man then that would work just fine for him. If there was a way he could do that without talking to her like she asked then that would be swell too.

^Niceland Bridge^

Vanellope had her breath baited. This was it, she was going into the kingdom for the first time ever. Her guardian always talked about the kingdom when he visited and now she would finally see what was so special about it. "You ready for this, Vanellope?" Ralph asked from beside her. She looked up next to her to see her friend's smiling face.

She nodded in response. "Yeah, no matter what those turds say about you, I'm ready. Let's check this place out. I want to know all about this place by the time Sugar Rush comes around tonight." Then she noticed Surge Protector. "So how are we getting past the blue freak?"

"It's simple, Surge takes note of everyone that passes on and off that bridge. Since your guardian lives here in the kingdom, we just tell him a name that isn't yours and he'll let you through. That way, if your guardian asks for you then he won't find out you passed through." Ralph explained.

"Smart idea, Stinkbrain! Let's go for it! We'll just tell him my name is Sarah."

"Fine by me, let's go," Ralph and Vanellope approached the bridge. "Hey, Surge!" He called as they approached.

Surge Protector looked up from his clipboard. "Ralph…" He muttered. Then he eyed Vanellope. "Never saw her before, who's this?"

Vanellope made herself look presentable. "My name is Sarah, sir, I'm just visiting the kingdom. My family met Ralph back in the forest and they said that Ralph could show me around."

After Surge processed the story, he wrote down on his clipboard. "Proceed," Ralph and Vanellope proceeded across the bridge.

Once on the other side, Vanellope snickered. "We did it, we got past him. That was easy!"

"Surge has never been too fond of his job. If he wasn't hoping to have a better life, he would be sleeping on the job like Beard Papa at the Kart Bakery." Ralph explained. "Come on, let me show you around. Just don't be too surprised if people run from us, screaming along the way." He warned her.

"No problem, let's just ignore those jerks and go on with our day." Vanellope walked onward.

So, Ralph led Vanellope around the kingdom and showed her various locations within. They went to the library where Vanellope looked at more books on racing and even looked at a few story books while she was at it. She had been really interested in the candy store but Ralph didn't have any money to spare which made Vanellope slightly pout but Ralph assured her that Felix would cover them at the races and maybe then she could persuade the short man into buying her some candy. Ralph was surprised when Vanellope recognized some of the racers from the Sugar Rush circuit but then he remembered that she had the newspaper clippings hung up in her tower. They even caught a glimpse of the Kart Bakery that Ralph mentioned. Just as they predicted, Ralph put off some of the citizens and caused them to run away while others were stupefied at the sight of Ralph with a child along for the ride. As when the duo first met, Vanellope didn't have the best manners so she repulsed some of the citizens as well. Despite the bad reception, their day together was one of the best that both had in a long time. Luckily, they were able to track down Felix and greet him at one of his various fixing jobs. Speaking of Felix…

^With Felix^

"Thanks again for fixing the hole in the wall, Felix!" Ken called as Felix went on his way.

Felix waved back. "Of course, Ken, just tell your students to be more careful with their martial arts practice." Today had been a fairly good day. Each job was fixed up, Ralph and Vanellope had visited him at his job, and everyone was being nice just as always, the exception being Gene who was still ostracized by everyone else for his actions at the party. Tonight he was looking forward to watching the race with his friends. If he could have spent it with Calhoun, that would have been really nice.

"Fix-It!" Felix turned to the source of the call and spotted Calhoun coming towards him. When she approached, she had a hesitant look under her usual stern face, for some reason he could just tell. What did she want? "I'm sorry about yesterday, it wasn't right for me to snap at you like that. You had no idea what you said made me angry. I just want to point out that I'm sorry about that and you are still permitted to speak to me."

He blinked as he processed what she had said. She had just apologized to him, something that was rare for someone as tough as her to do. Still, he was happy that they were back on neutral terms. "All is forgiven, ma'am. No need to fret over it." He took off his hat in respect before slapping it back on his head.

Calhoun nodded. "Good and just to make sure everything is square between us. I'll take you up on that offer with the race tonight." Part of her job was to have people trust her so they would follow her in case there was an emergency and Felix was no different. If it meant sticking out a race with him then fine.

"Really? That's wonderful, see you tonight. Also I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't know you wouldn't like it." Felix responded.

"Forget it, you didn't know, therefore not your fault. Just don't mention it again unless I say you can. Got it!" She ordered.

"Yes ma'am, I understand!"

"Good, now back to your business, I'm going back to mine." Before Felix could get in one more word, she left him to work.

Felix sighed in secret happiness. "She is a tough, wonderful angel." He whispered to no one. Snapping himself out of his daydream, he resumed to his next fixing job.

^Sugar Rush^

The kingdom was buzzing later in the evening as tonight was the first race of the Sugar Rush Speedway. While the racers got their karts prepped and in position, the citizens and guests in the kingdom bought tickets and filled up the seats. Four of those seats were occupied by Ralph, Vanellope, Felix, and Calhoun.

Unable to contain her excitement, Vanellope was standing in her seat the entire time before the race would begin. "Ooh this is so exciting! I'm actually at a race! I wonder who's going to win, bet you chumps that pumpkin head will win it." She said, eying one of the racers lining his kart up.

Reaching an arm out, Ralph gripped onto Vanellope's hoodie and tugged it down. "Sit down, if you want to blend in so you don't get found out then you can't make a scene." He hissed.

"…spoil sport…" Vanellope uttered as she planted her rear in her seat.

"You really shouldn't have given her that candy." Calhoun whispered to Felix.

Felix shrugged helplessly. "What was I supposed to do? She doesn't get out much and it's her first time here. I was just being kind."

Up above in the royal viewing space, King Candy straightened his bow one final time and fixed his hair. "This never gets old. Hoo hoo!" He looked over to Sour Bill. "Are the racers in position and are the seats filled?"

Sour Bill looked up from his clipboard that he was given a few minutes ago. "The seats are filled and I need to check on the racers." Using his little jelly bean legs, the green gumball assistant stepped out from behind the curtain and returned momentarily. "Looks like the racers are in place and are set to go, sir." The gumball droned.

"Excellent," King Candy checked his watch. Right on time! "Now we can get this started. Time to make my usual grand entrance. Ha ha! Sour Bill, go quiet down the audience." The king ordered.

"Yes sir…"

Vanellope had just finished explaining everything she knew about the racers when the crowd was shushed. "Awesome, it's starting!"

"Testing… one… two… ahem! Welcome everyone to this year's Sugar Rush Speedway event!" Sour Bill's greeting was answered with loud roars of approval. "Yes, yes, now calm down and allow me to present our rightful ruler, King Candy!" Sour Bill announced over the crowd's cheers.

That was his cue. King Candy jumped out from behind the curtain and took the microphone. "Hello, loyal subjects and warmed guests, it's great to see such a turnout this year just like every other year. Everyone tuned in to this extraordinary event better be ready for one heck of a night because that's what they'll be getting. To start the spectacle tonight, please give a hand for our racers!" then King Candy addressed each racer one by one.

Meanwhile, Vanellope was shocked. Her attention to the event went away as soon as she saw King Candy on the big screen. She had known that her guardian worked on the Speedway but she had no idea that he was the big man on it. Her guardian was the king… "The king is my guardian…"

Ralph noticed his friend's odd trance and nudged her out of it. "Kid, you okay? You're spacing out a little."

Vanellope blinked as she was nudged and returned to reality. "Sorry Ralph, I was just in awe of the opening celebration. It's no big deal." She lied. Now was not the time to be thinking about that, she had a race to enjoy.

"Okay…"

"That's all of our competitors, my dear subjects. With that out of the way, let's begin the race shall we? Racers, get in your karts and start your engines!" Encouraged by their leader's words, the fifteen racing children got into their karts and revved up their engines. "On your marks, get set, race!" The children took off down the track.

Everyone eagerly watched as the children approached the first special section of the race course. The first special area of the course consisted of a place that everyone dubbed the Gumball Gorge. The gorge was where gumballs rolled onto the course and possibly slowed down the racers. Most of the racers got through but a select few got a little tripped up. Once through, the racers raced up Cherry Cake Tower. The tower led up to a ramp that would allow racers to soar over to a purple and green taffy road. Aimed right, any racer would land successfully on the road but most couldn't manage that. While a couple racers landed on the road, most landed in the cupcake frosting surrounding the road. Up the taffy road was Ice Cream Peak which led to Rainbow Taffy Tunnel. Even with the slippery road, everyone reached the tunnel and raced inside. Eventually, the racers got out of the tunnel and crossed the finish line. Lap one was complete. The second lap went just as smoothly but the third and last lap wasn't so simple.

"Out of my way, Sakura!" Crumbelina cried out as she chased Minty Sakura up to Ice Cream Peak. Crumbelina managed to squeeze in beside her and then accidentally bumped Minty to the side of the road. Unable to get any traction from sliding sideways, Minty slid to the side of the track and ended up falling off the track. Because she was in a section of the course with hills, her kart began to tumble and roll down the side of the mountain.

"Aaaaaah!"

Crumbelina had seen what happened and immediately stopped her kart. "Sakura!" The audience gasped in disbelief as Minty Sakura's kart tumbled and continued to tumble until it crashed into a snow bank. "No! Sakura!" The posh girl inched her way down the slope as medics drove up and began to dig out the racer and her kart.

At the finish line, Taffyta, the best of the racers had already crossed the finish line first and was absorbing the adoration when she realized the attention was no longer on her.

"Hey, what the gumdrops! Why is no one cheering for me anymore, I just won!"

Other racers that had caught up to Crumbelina stopped when they saw Crumbelina's kart parked on the course and quickly scrambled down to help rescue Minty. Minty Zaki, another racer was extremely worried about Minty Sakura and helped Crumbelina and the medics get her out.

"Ow…." Minty Sakura moaned as she was helped out by the medics.

Crumbelina was the first racer to get a good look at her. "Oh gosh, I am so so sorry, Sakura! I didn't mean to do that. I really am very sorry! Please be okay!" She pleaded as the medics helped Minty Sakura into their ambulance.

"It's okay… accidents happen… not your fault…"

After the ambulance left, the racers returned to their karts and Crumbelina, feeling guilty, drove slowly to ensure she would be last. When the racers returned to the start/finish line, everybody quietly went through the congratulations to the winning racers. Nobody hesitated to leave for they were concerned about Minty Sakura's condition.

"Uh huh," King Candy nodded as he talked to the medics, "I see, yeah, okay, thanks for the report." King Candy waved the medics away and returned to his podium. "Attention everyone, Minty Sakura has to forfeit due to her condition and she has sprained arms with a slight concussion." He paused to let the information sink in. "It was really a sad accident and no hard feelings on Miss Crumbelina Di Caramello, this will happen in racing. It's just like the first year we did this, some of you may remember that incident. Anyway, I believe the Speedway can't be done without fifteen racers so I propose a qualifying tournament to see who has the racing skill to fill in the fifteenth slot. So any child from the age of eight to fifteen is eligible to partake in this contest as long as they have a kart to drive. The tournament will be held tomorrow night so until then everybody!" King Candy left the podium and the crowd dispersed for the exits.

"Poor Minty Sakura, I know it was an accident but I feel just so bad for her." Felix mused as the four left the race track.

Calhoun nodded. "Yep but like King Candy said, accidents happen. It could have happened to any one of the racers in any way."

Ralph agreed. "Yeah, that was normal. But there's something else I have on my mind." Taking two of his large fingers, Ralph removed Vanellope from his shoulder and set her down on the ground in front of him. "You were acting really weird when King Candy appeared. What was that about?"

"It's nothing, Ralph, he just looked really weird." Vanellope responded.

Calhoun noticed something about Vanellope's posture, if one knew what to look for then one could tell when someone was acting suspicious. "I know that squirming, you're lying to us. Nice try, Fun Size but if this is something we have to know then spill it." She demanded gently.

"…Remember how I said I lived in a tower and my guardian usually visits every few days… my guardian is King Candy."

"What!" The other three exclaimed.

"I swear I had no idea he was king. He never told me that."

Felix gasped. "Oh my lands, if he finds out you left the tower; he could say we kidnapped you or worse. We have to get you back."

"Go back to the tower? No way! The outside world is nothing like he said it was. He lied to me and now that I know, I plan on staying here with you guys. He can't have you jailed if I say you did nothing wrong."

"You want to live here. What are you going to do if you live here?" Ralph asked incredulously.

"I plan on racing. Gadoi!" Vanellope said as if it was obvious. "You heard that lying clown in there. There's an opening for a racer. That racer is going to be me."

"Just one problem: you don't have a kart to enter." Calhoun interrupted.

Vanellope held up a finger. "Not yet but I will by tomorrow night."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Vanellope directed her attention to Ralph. "Ham Hands here is going to help me."

"What? I never agreed to that." Ralph protested.

"Aw come on, Ralph! I know what goes in a kart and you have the strength to build it. We can do this! Besides, it would help with your 'good deed' thing to get a good reputation around here. Once people find out that you built my kart then they'll know you can do super cool stuff."

Felix nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a win-win situation, Ralph. Miss Vanellope will get to live out her life long dream and you'll get the recognition you deserve. I think you're skilled enough to build a kart in one day. You can do it!" He said.

"Short Stack's got a point. A win-win is always good to take up. If you want your reputation built up then do the kid that solid." Calhoun added.

Ralph sighed and looked down at Vanellope. "Please, Ralph!" She pleaded. "This is my calling. I know it." She started to give him puppy eyes.

They all really thought he should do it. Both sides benefit from this and Vanellope certainly couldn't go back to the tower now that her guardian is nothing but a fraud. "Fine, let's do it." He relented.

"Yes! Come on, let's get to sleep. We have a full day tomorrow!" Vanellope cheered.

* * *

"Aww…" The children sighed.

"That was so sweet of Ralph to agree to help Vanellope like that." A little girl said.

"And that race, that was cool. I really want Vanellope to build that kart now. She would out race the others." A boy commented.

Rapunzel closed the book and let Pascal jump back on the table. "Alright let's take a break and then we'll read the next part okay?" The children nodded. "Great, then take a fifteen minute break everyone." She placed the book on the table and moved to hug some of her subjects.

_Note: I am sorry if anybody likes Minty Sakura but I had to do that to her for the sake of the story. She's fine, rest assured._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled or Wreck-It Ralph.

Chapter 4: Racing for Your Dream

^Corona Castle^

The break had gone by very quickly as the children were eager to hear the next segment of the story. "Can we hear the next part now, Princess?" One boy said.

"Yeah, I want to know how Ralph and Vanellope build a kart." "What I really want to know is what happens to King Candy." "Why would you want to know that, he's mean!"

Rapunzel shushed her citizens. "Alright, alright, we'll read the next part. Our break is over." Pascal pushed the book over to her and she set it in her lap. Opening the book, Rapunzel spoke, "The next day, Ralph and Vanellope got to work on Vanellope's kart for the race…"

* * *

It was mid-morning and Ralph and Vanellope were already building a kart for Vanellope to enter in the race.

"Are you sure you know what we're doing, kid?" Ralph wondered for what seemed to be the twentieth time that morning.

The child in question rolled her eyes and groaned. "I'm certain, Ralph. I've read all of my books from cover to cover a hundred times. I think I know what goes into a kart. Now all of the karts seem to have smaller wheels in front and bigger ones in the back so put that one there and that one goes back there." She instructed as Ralph constructed the vehicle. Thanks to Vanellope's knowledge of kart construction and Ralph's strength, they were able to quickly assemble a kart and they were putting the finishing touches on it: the wheels. "We're done! Perfect! Ralph, say hello to the Likkity Split!" The nine year old gestured to the finished product.

It was a rickety looking thing. Not wanting to hit Felix up for more money than necessary, Ralph and Vanellope decided to only use the money they had for little parts, the entry fee for the tournament, and lunch while the rest of the kart came from Niceland's abandoned junkyard. Miraculously, the duo was able to find every bigger part they needed there.

Ralph eyed the machine skeptically. "I don't know, kid, you really think this can hold up against the racers?"

"I'm positive. We've got a working engine, wheels, pedals, a driver's seat and that's all we need." Vanellope hopped in the seat and tested the engine. "It works! Come on, let's go sign up and test this out on the practice track."

"Okay, but what about King Candy, if he sees you then he'll know that you escaped your tower and then you won't get to participate."

"Oh, Stinkbrain, that's where you're wrong. He won't know it's me."

"And how do you plan on that happening?"

To answer his question, she pulled out a pair of red racing goggles. "He can't know it's me if he can't see my eyes. When I race, I'll have my goggles on and my hoodie will be up. It's the perfect cover. Like I said before back at the tower, he's never seen me in this outfit so he'll already have a hard time recognizing me."

"If you say so."

Ralph pushed the kart out of the junkyard and rolled it all the way over to Sugar Rush. Seeing as Vanellope really wanted to do this, Felix had been generous enough to give them the money to register her in the tournament. At the Speedway, Vanellope used her alias that she used to pass Surge and even added a last name so it wouldn't look weird. She registered herself under 'Sarah Vanilla'.

^Sugar Rush Practice Course^

"This is so cool!" Vanellope screamed as she shot down the practice track. The Likkity Split was working like a charm.

Ralph cheered as she cruised around turns and landed the little practice course jumps. It took a little practice for Vanellope to get the hang of steering and speeding but to his surprise she picked it up quickly. "Way to go, kid! You're nailing it!"

Vanellope slammed on the brakes as she stopped by Ralph. "This is going to win the tournament, easy. I can't wait for tonight." Just the thought of racing towards her goal of becoming an official racer made her squeal.

"Let's go back to the junkyard so you can make any adjustments." They took the kart and rolled off for the junkyard.

As they left, they had no idea that someone else was watching them. Watching as they left was Taffyta Muttonfudge and her friends and fellow racers, Candlehead and Rancis Fluggerbutter.

"What a piece of junk that kart is." Taffyta sneered.

"I know, it looked like something that someone would throw away. I know I would." Candlehead agreed.

Rancis nodded. "With how that kart handled the practice course, it would be no match for us on the real track."

Taffyta smirked. "Those losers say they're taking it back to the junkyard to tune it up. I say we make sure that after they take it back to the junkyard that it doesn't leave the junkyard again. After all, it would hurt our reputations as the best racers to race against that junk pile."

"What are we going to do?" Rancis asked.

In response, Taffyta pointed at Candlehead. "Candlehead, go get the others and tell them to meet up with us at the junkyard in twenty minutes." Candlehead nodded and hopped in her kart. "Rancis, let's keep an eye on that newbie." The three split up in their assigned directions.

^Niceland Junkyard^

Back at the junkyard, as Vanellope and Ralph tweaked some things, they heard their stomachs growl.

Chuckling at how time passed, Ralph looked at Vanellope. "I guess that's our cue to break for lunch. How about I go get something for us to eat and you can stay here and work on the kart. When I come back, then we'll really stop for a break." He suggested.

The stomach growls didn't faze Vanellope, she just continued to work. "Yeah, yeah, just go and hurry up. I want to get back into driving mode as soon as I can." She waved him away while loosening the steering wheel a slight bit.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes." Ralph walked away towards the junkyard exit.

For the next few minutes, Vanellope worked on the steering wheel and checked over the engine. It was coming along nicely and it would be in the perfect condition to race when she was done with it. Her work in peace was interrupted when the sound of kart engines approaching made her look up. Somebody was coming her way and it wasn't Ralph. Quickly, she pulled her goggles over her eyes and pulled her hood up over her head. When Vanellope turned around, karts entered her work area and circled her and the Likkity Split.

"What's up guys? I know you're all the racers from Sugar Rush. What are you up to? Personally introducing yourselves to the tournament competitors?"

Nonchalantly, Taffyta licked her lollipop. "Not exactly, we're eliminating competition we don't think is even worthy of entering that tournament."

"Oh and you don't think I have what it takes to be a racer? I think I have what it takes and you guys are just afraid that the Likkity Split will race circles around you."

At first, Vanellope thought these racers were cool kids but now she was second guessing her opinion. If they were trying to sabotage her then they aren't very good sports.

Taffyta chuckled. "How cute of you to think that bit of trash can race with us. You see us racers have worked hard to get to where we are today and your kart will do nothing but make us look like silly little kids. They won't take us seriously and that will end Sugar Rush."

"You don't know that, Taffyta. Who knows, maybe everyone watching the race will like my kart when they see how well it does."

"Cute, newbie but sadly, no one will see your precious 'Likkity Split' race on the Sugar Rush track."

"And why would that be?" Vanellope challenged.

"This is why, Minty now!" Vanellope and the others watched as Minty Zaki ran up to the kart and flipped in the air, landing on the kart which now had a dent in it from Minty's impact.

"Hey!"

"Now everyone!" Taffyta commanded. Before Vanellope could do anything to try and stop the racers, they all gathered around her kart. The racers grabbed, pulled, kicked, and punched at the Likkity Split.

Vanellope regained movement and rushed over to prevent her kart's destruction. "No! Stop! You can't do that!" She circled around the mass of racers and couldn't get in the clutter. "Stop that! I worked hard on this! Please!" She cried out. The others brushed her off and laughed as they caused damage to the kart.

With food in hand, Ralph returned with his and Vanellope's lunch. His happy vibe disappeared as he entered the junkyard and saw Vanellope frantically running around the group of racing kids. He was definitely tall enough to see Minty jumping and exactly what she was jumping on.

"Hey! Get out of here!" The kids froze as they heard the grown up voice. Once they saw him, they screamed and scrambled away to their karts. Ralph set the food off to the side and charged over. "That's right, leave her alone. Scram!" When the last kart left the zone, Ralph calmed down and checked on Vanellope. "Kid? Vanellope? Are you okay?" Her silence was enough to answer. He watched as Vanellope pulled her hood down and took off her goggles and stared at what she was staring at.

What once was the Likkity Split was now a giant pile of broken pieces. Wheels were torn apart, axles were bent, the steering wheel was in two, and everything was just rubble.

They looked in silence for minutes until Vanellope got her voice back. "Tha- that was my only shot… my only shot at racing… now it's destroyed. There's no way we can find all new parts and build another one in time." Vanellope muttered.

He knew she was right. They had spent a lot of time on this. They had woken early in the morning just so they would have a head start and enough time to practice. Finding no words that could comfort her right now, Ralph retrieved their lunch and they sat, eating in silence.

After what seemed like an entire day passing by when really only an hour, the two sat there in sad silence until Felix showed up.

"Ralph, Vanellope, there you two are. I was wondering how things are going with Miss Vanellope's kart." Their expressions were his answer. "What's the matter?" Then he noticed the pile of destroyed kart parts. "Oh my lands, what happened here?"

Ralph's anger was shown in his tone. "Those little maniac racers came here while I was getting lunch and wrecked Vanellope's kart. Can Calhoun count this as destruction of property because I think they all earned a good lock up in a cell?"

Felix was taken aback by this news. "What? They did that? That's terrible."

"No duh, Hammer Head. And now because of them I can't enter the race."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have a kart, Genius. There isn't enough time to build another one from scratch."

"Who says you have to build it from scratch, why don't you use the Kart Bakery? It can have a kart built for you in a matter of minutes."

Ralph blinked. "It can?"

"Sure," Felix shrugged. "All of the racers have used it and I've seen a lot of children that are probably entering the tournament, using it." He reasoned.

"Great," Ralph commented. "Just one problem, we don't have the money to get into the bakery." He countered.

Vanellope nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we used all the money you gave us for the parts we couldn't find here and for entering the tournament and for lunch."

Felix dug into his pocket and brought out a couple of bills. "Here, use this. It's enough to get you in."

Taking the money, Ralph looked at it, it was the same amount as the admission price. "This is enough! Felix, you're a life saver. Thanks!"

The handyman waved off the praise. "No problem, I have more walking around money than I know what to do with anyhow."

"Just one problem, how are we going to convince Beard Papa to let us in? He probably doesn't want people like Vanellope and I in his factory."

Felix thought for a moment. "Jiminy jaminy, I think I have an idea that will get you two into the factory."

^Minutes Later^

"You're kidding me, right?" Calhoun grumbled. Felix's bright idea was to have Calhoun convince Beard Papa to let them in.

Felix respectfully took his cap off for a serious moment. "Sorry, Ma'am but I'm afraid that I'm not kidding you. You know how everyone is around Ralph. Some refuse to give service to Ralph and Beard Papa is one of them unfortunately." He explained.

"We wouldn't need your help if those little brats hadn't demolished Vanellope's kart." Ralph argued.

Calhoun blinked as she processed Ralph's comment. "You're telling me that some little kids destroyed whatever thing you built?" She asked, not sure if she understood correctly.

"It was sabotage, Sarge! They only wrecked my kart because they thought it looked like a piece of crud!" Vanellope protested.

"Really?" Vanellope nodded at Calhoun's question. Why did she decide to get sucked into this the other day when Felix asked her? "…Fine I'll help. Come on!" Calhoun motioned for the other three to follow her to the Kart Bakery.

^Kart Bakery^

Beard Papa yawned. He really got some business today thanks to King Candy making that fuss about having fifteen racers. A lot of kids had come in so they could enter the race to become the new fifteenth racer in the Speedway. Just as he was about to get some shut eye, he was approached by Ralph and Vanellope.

"Hi, Beard Papa!" Ralph waved.

"Ralph?" The factory security closed off the entrance. "Sorry Ralph but I can't let you get in there."

"Aw, Beard Papa, come on. Let me in, I just want to help my friend here build a kart." He gestured to Vanellope.

"We have a kart emergency! We need to make one and fast. The race is tonight and some jerks tore apart my first one." Vanellope added.

Beard Papa trembled a little. He really didn't want to face Ralph's wrath but he couldn't let him in if a mess was going to occur. "I'm sorry but I can't let a child in unsupervised and I can't let an irresponsible adult in either."

Calhoun then appeared from behind Ralph. "Then I guess it's plan B." She walked up to Beard Papa. "Listen, you owe me a favor and I'm taking it now! You are letting these two in to do what they need to."

He hesitated. "I, but I can't. Ralph is going to make a mess in there if I let him in."

"Beard Papa, I'm giving you an order and you can't refuse an officer like myself. If you really want to stay at your job then you'll let my pals here in."

Trembling, Beard Papa thought over his options. After some inner debate, he reluctantly let them in. "If they do make a mess, they're cleaning it up." Beard Papa warned as he opened the entrance.

Ralph nodded in agreement. "That sounds fair, come on, let's get in there." He and Vanellope marched forward. "Thanks Felix, thanks Calhoun!" He called back to the other two.

"That went well. I can't wait until tonight. Can you?" Felix asked Calhoun.

"Oh this is going to be an interesting night alright. I know for a fact that my men are going to be gambling on those entrants." Calhoun replied as she and Felix left the factory.

^Kart Bakery^

Vanellope grinned as she saw the inside of the factory. This would definitely work for her. "It's perfect! Everything we need is just a button away." She glanced around the factory and saw the various machines that would help her put together her new kart, one that the racers can't possibly break as easily as they could with the Likkity Split.

On the other hand, Ralph was uneasy once he saw the many machines they would need to use. "Vanellope, we've never used this stuff before. How are we supposed to build something good in one shot?"

"Simple, I'm a racer and I know that much so maybe once I get started, it'll be as easy as pie."

"You're really confident in your ability, aren't you?" Ralph deadpanned.

She smiled at him with a playful shine in her eyes. "If I'm not then who would be?" Ralph sighed. "Relax, I'll take care of everything. You just standby and help if I need it. That way, you won't have much of a chance to royally screw everything up like Beard Papa says you will."

"For a kid who's never met anybody in nine years, you have a really sharp tongue. You do realize that right?"

Ignoring his blunt comment, Vanellope moved ahead. "Let's find a kart to build. All we have to do is pick a kart model and control the machines while they do the work." Shortly after beginning her search for a model to select, Vanellope found the one she wanted. "Found it! Let's build!" After making the selection, Vanellope and Ralph moved to the first machine.

This machine was to organize the available parts and mix them up. From the beginning of the job, Vanellope did a poor job. "Vanellope, you're doing it wrong! Those parts don't go in the mix!" Ralph noted beside her.

"I'm doing the best I can. How do the kids here do this?" Vanellope snapped back.

Ralph pulled Vanellope away from the controls. "Let me!" He quickly made correct moves to make up for Vanellope's poor job and the mix was stirred up and moved to the next machine.

The next machine would heat up the mix to solidify it into its shape.

"Are you kidding me? We have to pump this thing to get the temperature right? Ralph!" Vanellope screeched as she saw the large pump.

"Got it!" Ralph, aware of his own strength, carefully pumped the temperature correctly and the mix moved onto the third and final machine. Looking at the machine, Ralph knew he would have to do this one as well. "Alright, four wheels coming up!" Ralph announced as he pounded the button that launched projectiles at the tubes.

"Add frosting too!"

Obeying his friend's command, Ralph launched the projectiles at another tube. His force was much more than needed because one of the projectiles busted the tube and activated a domino effect on the other tubes. "Uh…oh…" He winced as the mix got drenched in frosting and the other various decorations. "This way!" The wrecker and his friend ran to the end product stage.

When they arrived, the curtain pulled away and a mess emerged from the stage; a kart rolling out from it.

"Vanellope, I'm sorry. I really tried not to make a mess of things. I didn't think the tubes would bust like that." He apologized as Vanellope looked over the kart.

For a mess, it definitely was a step up from the Likkity Split. Perhaps the racers had a point, it would have been mocked by everyone and so would she. They had actually saved her from embarrassing herself. Sure it didn't look very clean but it still looked amazing in its own way. "Forget about that… this thing looks neat! I mean look at this!" She exclaimed to Ralph. "Look at the wheels, and that spoiler! The sprinkles are an awesome touch too! This kart is perfect!"

Ralph raised an eyebrow. "Seriously…"

Vanellope nodded. "Seriously… Ralph, we made a masterpiece! Ooh, wait here!" Dashing over to a shelf off to the side, Vanellope brought over bags of icing. "This needs one last touch: our names! When I race this, then everybody will know what a great thing you helped build." She handed him the red icing.

"Vanellope, one problem with that idea."

"What?"

"If we write our names on this then King Candy will know you're racing."

In an instant, Vanellope's smile grimaced. "Sour sauce!" She pouted.

Ralph shrugged. "Sorry!" Setting the icing on a nearby table, Ralph retrieved a broom. "Come on, we promised Beard Papa that the place would be clean by the time we left." Intent on keeping his word, Ralph began to sweep away the debris on the floor to a trash can.

It took twenty minutes to clean up the extra clutter around the stage and clean up the tubes. As they cleaned, Vanellope realized something about her new kart: she didn't know how to drive it. Its model was different from the Likkity Split and that was a problem.

"Hey, Ralph, what are we going to do? The new kart doesn't look like it drives the same way as the Likkity Split and I don't want to practice on the practice track again. The racers would want to see if they can ruin this one too." Vanellope wondered.

"Don't worry, I've got something to fix that." They finished cleaning up and took the kart outside. "Follow me, I know the perfect place for you to test this out." Ralph pushed the kart down the path as Vanellope rode inside it.

^Secret Forest Area^

Vanellope once again was speechless. The place Ralph had taken her was a little valley area hidden deep in the forest. It looked like a loop, the perfect place to learn how to drive. "Wow… I never knew there was a place like this in the forest. Sweet! What do we do first?" Vanellope asked Ralph.

Ralph didn't really know anything about karts besides what he learned this morning when they had crafted the Likkity Split. "Well, let's see…" He peered inside the kart. "I guess that starts it up." His gaze was on a green button on the dashboard that was connected to the steering wheel. Experimenting with Ralph's suggestion, Vanellope pressed the button and the kart's engine revved up.

"Nice!" Vanellope complimented the engine's sound. Then she looked down at her feet. "Okay, we know the right pedal is the gas and the middle one is the brake so what's the left one?" She observed the most left pedal.

Asking Ralph about the pedal wasn't really helping, he knew less than Vanellope did. "How should I know? I don't really build karts on a daily basis, kid." Ralph answered. "Let me take a look anyway, it doesn't seem to do anything." Ralph proceeded to prod the pedal.

While Ralph tried to figure out the purpose of the pedal, Vanellope's attention was grabbed by another part of the kart. "What the heck is this thing?" She grabbed it and pushed it forward.

"Woah!" Ralph yelped as he stumbled forward.

"Yeow!" Vanellope squeaked as the kart shot a few feet forward from where it started. Pressing the brake, Vanellope looked back at Ralph. "Hey, Ralphie! You alright back there?"

Ralph got back up onto his feet. "I'm fine, little bruising but I'm okay." He walked over to Vanellope's kart. "What happened anyway? It just zipped away."

"I don't know," Vanellope shrugged. "While you were fiddling with the pedal, I tried to see what this does." She pointed to the lever.

"Hm, try pressing that pedal and pushing the lever at the same time, maybe they're connected somehow."

Vanellope nodded and did as Ralph suggested. Just like they thought, the kart launched another few feet away. "It worked. Stinkbrain, you were right!"

"Great!" Ralph cheered. "Keep going! You need as much practice as you can with this new kart if you're going to win that fifteenth spot tonight."

For the rest of the afternoon, Vanellope worked on coordinating her shifting and making turns and increasing her speed. It didn't take long for Vanellope to become a pro at it and Ralph considered her a natural at racing. When the time came, the duo left for the Speedway. Tonight, Vanellope would be an official racer in Sugar Rush.

^Sugar Rush Speedway^

"Hoo hoo, tonight's an exciting night my subjects! For those of you just joining us, one of our racers, Minty Sakura, was recently in an accident and is not able to participate in Sugar Rush for the rest of this year's circuit. This complicated things but it also made the event of Sugar Rush more interestingly intense. Tonight, children from in and out of the kingdom of Niceland will participate in an elimination competition to determine which one of them will fulfill Minty Sakura's place. The racing will begin shortly so get settled in and enjoy!" King Candy announced at his circuit podium.

Everyone in the audience at the track was talking among themselves, opinionating on the night's competitors and some were even making bets. In the audience was Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun.

Felix, having not seen Ralph or Vanellope since they entered the kart factory, was ecstatic to learn that Vanellope was still competing. "She must be so excited. I know I would be if I got to take my dream a step further than what I intended." He said to his fellow race watchers.

"Believe me, she was eager to get set up when we got here." Ralph replied.

Calhoun was the only one that wasn't on board with the idea. "This is stupid. The circuit can go on with fifteen racers, this whole thing is just a waste of time."

Felix frowned. "Now, Miss Calhoun, Vanellope's waited all her life for this. If she could talk to us right now, I'm sure she would want us to be supportive." He patted her shoulder calmly.

"Whatever, this beats doing those rounds with the new recruits." Calhoun retorted. "Where is the little candy maniac at?" She asked, looking around for Vanellope.

Ralph pointed down to the track entrance. "She's with the rest of the competitors, getting her kart ready. It started out looking like a mess but I think it could really contend."

"Oh, that's nice to know. I can't wait to see it." Felix chimed.

Down in the kart garage, Vanellope finished shining up her kart and checking its sturdiness. In a matter of minutes, she'll prove to everyone that she's the racer they've been looking for. There were numerous children in the kart garage. From what she could estimate, there had to be at least sixty children in the garage, each with a kart they've entered. Only a few stood out to her of the bunch. There was a boy that liked to pick his nose a lot or most of the time from when she's seen him, he was racing a donut and éclair themed kart. There was a girl that with poufy pink hair that was driving a kart that looked like a cupcake and balloons were attached to it, she was a weird girl. When Vanellope talked to her, the girl had somehow guessed completely correct that she was hiding from someone and that she was helping someone prove that they were nice, not to mention the girl said something else about laughing at fears. Along with the weird girl in pink was a boy in brown that seemed to like to smash things and was driving a pound cake themed kart and the pound cake boy was with a girl in orange that liked to chew on stuff and was apparently driving a pumpkin cake themed kart. Then there were a set of sisters, three of them, the oldest had brown hair, the middle girl had blond hair, and the youngest had black hair. The youngest was driving a kart themed after cotton candy, the middle was driving a candy cane kart, and the oldest sister was driving a kart modeled after brownies. Those seven faces, Vanellope could remember vividly. Whether they were going to be her competition for the racing spot was going to be determined shortly.

"Attention racers!" King Candy boomed in the room. "The first group, out to the track, please! Thank you!"

That meant it was Vanellope's time to prove her worth. She was in the first group. Vanellope, along with the rest of the first group were ushered out onto the race course. This course was not the Sugar Rush course, this was one of the secondary courses. The king didn't want first time racers on the main track so tonight's competition would be hosted on one of the others. The karts were lined up and the contestants started up their karts.

King Candy emerged back on the podium and proudly spoke into the microphone. "Welcome everyone to the second night of Sugar Rush! This is a really special event tonight, with the potential racer we're looking for here tonight, it's only a matter of time before they're revealed. Now here is how it will work: each set of fifteen drivers will do three laps around the course and the top three rankings will move onto the next leg of the elimination competition. In the final race, the racer to cross the finish line first will become the fifteenth racer in the Sugar Rush circuit!" The explanation was met by loud cheers of approval. "Glad everyone agrees to the terms with me. Let's get started! On your mark…"

The drivers focused on the track ahead of them.

"Get set…"

Vanellope looked around her and saw the donut and éclair themed kid among the other racers. She would beat him easily. Turning back to the course, Vanellope concentrated on the race.

"Go!"

Twelve karts, Vanellope's included, zoomed down the track. The karts that didn't immediately go gradually disappeared down the track as well. At first, Vanellope found it slightly difficult to drive with several other kids alongside her but she grew comfortable as they entered the second lap. Remembering what King Candy said, she worked her way around her competition and slowly advanced up the ranks. In the third lap, she was in fourth place and the racers ahead of her weren't that far away. The finish line would be coming up and when it did, she had to be in the top three. Just when she didn't think she could get in there, her opening came when the third place spun out on the side of the course. Shifting gears, Vanellope rocketed towards the other racers and crossed the finish line. When it was over, Vanellope looked to the race standings and there she was: second place. In her crazy burst of speed, she had managed to cut past the third and second place racers. She was moving on to the next level of the competition.

"Yeah! She did it!" Ralph roared victoriously. "She's still in it!"

Calhoun snorted. "Well, that was slightly impressive. I didn't think she would actually do it."

Felix nodded. "I believed she could do it. Now she's one more race closer to being in Sugar Rush." He said.

The race results showed that the donut boy was seventh and eliminated along with the others. Twelve opponents down, forty-seven to go. From the kart garage, Vanellope watched as the other three races played out and the final race roster was verified. Then the final race came and the poufy pink-haired girl along with the pound cake boy and the little girl with the cotton candy kart were part of her competition. Taking three racers from each race, the outcome had twelve racers in the final race. Upon the race's start, Vanellope quickly found herself faced against the toughest opponents she's had today. She should have known that the best racers from each race were going to be tougher to beat than her first race. By the time the third lap came, Vanellope was having trouble gaining the lead and the others were giving her a run for her money. Finally, Vanellope gained air off a ramp and landed back on the track. The finish line was crossed and Vanellope looked to the standings: first place.

"The race is over! We have our fifteenth racer for the circuit, Sarah Vanilla!"

Vanellope couldn't breath a word, she was too shocked that she had actually won. Around her, the audience cheered in support. For a moment, Vanellope wanted to remove her hood and her goggles to reveal to everyone who she was but she knew that King Candy would have an even better chance of recognizing her. Forgetting about getting rid of the disguise, Vanellope approached the awaiting publicists and media to absorb every bit of her victory.

* * *

"Today's reading is done!" Rapunzel declared as she closed the book.

"What?" A little boy, roughly aged nine exclaimed. "But we have to find out what's next."

"Yeah, we need to hear how Vanellope performs in the next race. She'll beat those racers into the dirt." Another boy cried out.

"Now, now, we've done enough reading today. I'm glad you're really interested in the story but I have other duties to do." She ushered the children out to the awaiting guards that would take them home. "Just wait until tomorrow, it's going to be really good and Eugene will be joining us for story time tomorrow as well."

"Yay! The princess's boyfriend is coming to our story reading!" A girl squealed.

"I've seen him, he's cool but Eugene isn't a cool name, he should try 'Flynn Rider' out sometime." A boy replied.

Rapunzel and Pascal chuckled, the children had no idea that Eugene already had.

_Note: There's chapter four for the patient readers. Sorry for the wait, life's been busy and my brain keeps coming up with new ideas. Just so you're aware, the chapters might get shorter._


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